Venod Sharma

Venod Sharma (born 10 January 1948) is an Indian politician and the founder of the Haryana Jan Chetna Party (V). He is father of Manu Sharma who is serving life jail term for murder of Jessica Lal .He was formerly a member of the Indian National Congress, which he represented as a Member of Parliament in the Rajya Sabha (1992-1998) and as a Member of Legislative Assembly (2005-2014) from Ambala, Haryana. It is said that he allegedly peddled drugs as a side business.^[1]

Sharma was associated with Indian National Congress for 40 years.^[2] He was elected to the Rajya Sabha as an Indian National Congress candidate from Punjab on 10 April 1992. He retired from that role at the 1998 elections.^[3] In 1999, he resigned from the Congress party during Indian general election after his son Manu Sharma was involved in the Jessica Lal murder case. Sharma made a comeback in 2004 and won the Haryana Legislative Assembly election from Ambala city. He was re-elected from the same constituency in 2009.^[4] He owns a huge media empire in India, namely India News and NewsX channels, which are run by his son Kartikeya Sharma.^[5]

On 19 April 2014, Sharma was expelled by the Congress party, allegedly for campaigning against it in the recent elections. On 2 May he resigned as a Member of the Legislative Assembly and on 23 June he founded his own political party, called the "Haryana Jan Chetna Party (V)".^[6][7][8] It was alleged that his decision to quit was motivated by a desire to protect his corporate interests.^[9] Through his India News channel managing editor Deepak Chaurasia, he tried joining BJP but didn't succeed.^[10]

Venod Sharma finished in last position in the contest, losing his deposit.^[11] His wife, Shakti Rani Sharma, who also contested on a Jan Chetna party ticket, came last in her contest.^[12] There were allegations of Poll Code violations by Sharma during the elections.^[13]

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